CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Dec. 14, 2001 - Dr. Henry Shannon, chancellor of St. Louis Community College (SLCC), will be the guest speaker at the 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 21 in the Student Recreation Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

The theme of this year’s breakfast will be, “Building A Community: Shaping a Generation.” Breakfast will be served starting at 8 a.m., and the program will begin at 8:30 a.m.

Tickets go on sale Dec. 21 and can be purchased in advance at the Southeast Bookstore or at the University Center Information Desk on the third floor. The Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance also will be selling tickets in local churches. Tickets will not be available at the door the day of the breakfast.

University offices, including the Southeast Bookstore, will be closed from Dec. 22 to Jan. 1. Offices, including the Southeast Bookstore will reopen on Jan. 2, when breakfast tickets will again be available.

Admission will be $7 for the public, $3 for children under 12, $3 for students without a University meal plan, and students with a University meal plan may use their meal plan. Group tickets and student sponsorships are available. For more information, contact Dr. Irene Ferguson, dean of students at Southeast, at deanofstudents@semo.edu.

Shannon, the breakfast keynote speaker, was named chancellor of SLCC in January 2000. Previously, he served as acting chancellor in 1997-1998 and in fall 1999. Shannon earned his undergraduate degree from Harris-Stowe College and master’s and doctoral degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. He began his career with SLCC in 1983 as dean of student development services at the Forest Park campus and was named campus president in 1992.

Shannon was a teacher and counselor in the St. Louis Public School System and worked as a counselor and administrator at Harris-Stowe State College. After leaving Harris-Stowe State College, Shannon became an administrator at St. Louis University directing the Upward Bound Program.

Shannon continues to be an advocate for students and student success, and his dissertation focused on strategies to enhance the achievement of African American high school students. Currently he is active in many community organizations that support the success of students in the metropolitan area.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Dec. 14, 2001 - The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents today approved the design and construction of two new parking garages on campus, one located on the west side of Henderson Street across from the new residence hall, and the second at the Towers residence hall complex, off of Sprigg Street.

The projects, estimated at $6.5 million, are necessary as a result of a growing demand for parking. The construction of these two facilities and the multi-modal transfer facility, planned off of New Madrid in what is known as the “pig lot,” in addition to the opening of the transitway in January, is expected to alleviate many campus parking issues, University officials say. Student Government approved a resolution last week, favoring the project.

With the addition of a 300-bed residence hall located immediately adjacent to the University Center, there is a need for additional parking spaces for those residents, as well as for parking for visitors to the University Center and other locations at the south end of the campus. The new residence hall is expected to be completed by the start of the fall 2002 semester. The parking garage will be located between Broadway and Normal Avenue on Henderson Street.

The two-story parking garage on Henderson Street will consist of two levels containing 182 spaces on each level. Entry to the lower level will be from the south side of the structure, while entry to the upper level will be from the north side.

The second garage is expected to ease parking concerns for some students who live in Towers and Group Housing on the north end of the campus and are unable to park near those buildings. Currently, many of these students park west of the Student Recreation Center, which reduces the number of available parking spaces for commuter students who park there. The two-story parking garage at Towers will consist of about 170 spaces on each level.

In related action, the Board approved increases in parking decal rates, beginning with fiscal 2003. The revenue generated from the increases will be used to pay for bonds issued to finance the construction of the garages.

Under the revised decal schedule, Preferred parking decals will cost $135, up from $80. The cost of Perimeter decals will jump from $45 to $85, and Evening decals cost $45, up from $25.

Parking decal rates were last increased in 1993 when the perimeter/preferred system was adopted. While residential students may benefit most from the construction of the parking garages, revenue from parking decals is used to finance the University’s required match for federal funding for the transit system, shuttles and the construction of the multi-modal transit facility.

Also in related action, the Board approved two resolutions declaring its intent to reimburse certain project costs with proceeds of bonds and authorizing certain actions in connection with the proposed issuance.

Certain project costs are anticipated to occur related to the planning, design and construction of one or more of the parking decks. Bond issuance may be a viable long-term financing option for the projects that be may presented to the Board for its consideration in the future. The resolution declaring the University’s intent to reimburse certain project costs with proceeds of the bonds, which is required by Treasury regulations, provides the University with the flexibility, but not the requirement, to be reimbursed for current project costs from future bond proceeds.

The second resolution, approved by the Board that authorizes certain actions in connection with the proposed issuance, allows the University to make arrangements for structuring and issuing bonds. Since the one parking deck is related to the residence hall project, which is proceeding on a fast track, the University needs to make provisions to have the details associated with structuring and issuing the bonds in place for the Board’s consideration at their next meeting. The bonds, however, will not be issued and no contract for the sale of the bonds will be entered into, without further authorization by the Board of Regents.

Neither of the resolutions obligate the University to issue bonds in the future or require a specific amount of bonds to be issued.

MUSIC ACADEMY STUDENTS NAMED STATE WINNERS IN NATIONAL COMPOSITION CONTEST

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Dec. 14, 2001 - Four students enrolled in the Southeast Missouri Music Academy at Southeast Missouri State University have been named state winners in the Music Teachers National Association Composition Contest.

The winners are Tara Craven, Steffan Troxel and Katie Lakner, all of Jackson, Mo., and Catherine Goeke of Cape Girardeau. The four took top honors at the state level and now advance to a regional competition in January in Columbia, Mo. Winners at the regional level advance to the national competition.

Craven, daughter of Bill and Brenda Craven of Jackson, is the state winner in the high school division of the contest. Her composition is written for three trombones. Craven studies trombone, piano and composition at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy and is a senior at Jackson High School.

Troxel, son of Matt and Sherrie Troxel of Jackson, is the state winner in the Junior High division of the competition. His composition entitled “Roman Fanfare and Advance” is two
movements written for three trumpets. Troxel studies trumpet, piano and composition at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy and is a freshman at Jackson Junior High School.

Goeke, daughter of Dr. Christopher Goeke and Lori Shaffer, is the state winner in the elementary division of the competition. Her composition entitled “Mimi’s Dream” is written for solo piano. Goeke studies piano and composition at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy and is a fifth grade student at Franklin Elementary in Cape Girardeau.

Lakner, daughter of Dennis and Janet Lakner of Jackson, is the state winner in the junior high division of the Missouri Music Teachers Association Theory Project. Her project was a study of four pieces by Kabelevsky and included a biographical sketch of the composer and an analysis of the composition. Lakner is a seventh grade student at Immaculate Conception School in Jackson and studies piano with Becky Fulgham at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy.

The Academy, a nonprofit organization under the auspices of Southeast Missouri State University’s Department of Music, is dedicated to enriching the lives of students by stimulating a lifelong appreciation of music.

The Pride Award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence as a teacher, an extraordinary level of scholarship and service, and whose overall accomplishments are especially noteworthy. Gathman was selected for the award by the Council of Deans after nominations were solicited from each of the University’s Colleges and Schools.

“I’m honored to be selected by people across campus,” Gathman said. “The main thing is that I’m down here in the trenches doing my day-to-day work. I often don’t think how what I do is perceived across the campus. It makes me feel as if people out there think I am doing something right.

“It’s a surprising pleasure to have people across the campus single me out in this way,” he added. “I deeply appreciate it.”

Gathman, who was the recipient of this year’s Pride Award from the College of Science and Mathematics, said he is indebted to Dr. Andy Pratt in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Dr. Walt Lilly, professor of biology, for their collegiality and the support they have offered through the years.

With Pratt, Gathman received the Templeton Foundation Science and Religion Course Award in 1997. Gathman and Lilly have conducted research together for more than a decade and, with Lilly, Gathman received more than $400,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation since 1993.

Dr. Chris McGowan, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said Gathman “is an excellent teacher. He is an excellent researcher. He does a lot of good service in the community. He is more than deserving of this award. There are no two ways about it.”

Gathman graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona in 1977 with a bachelor of science degree in biology. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in genetics, also from the University of Arizona, where he held a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship.

He has been a member of the Department of Biology at Southeast since 1985. During his time at Southeast, he has published 15 articles in refereed journals and given dozens of presentations at national and international meetings. He has supervised 18 undergraduate students in research projects, many of these resulting in student publications or presentations.

He conducts summer workshops for faculty on application of computer software to teaching, and has served as a scorer on writing proficiency examinations since 1989.

This year, Gathman and a group of six undergraduates have identified more than 250 genes in the fungus Schizophyllum commune and published their sequences in the NIH GenBank database.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Dec. 14, 2001 - The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents today approved reductions in the University’s fund balance reserve, in addition to reductions in operations and equipment budgets in order to handle a potential state spending cut.

The Regents decided not to institute a mid-year tuition surcharge, after Gov. Bob Holden today indicated that he will withhold an additional two percent from Missouri state appropriations to higher education during this academic year.

University officials, earlier this week, said Southeast might be faced with an additional five percent reduction in its state appropriation due to lagging state revenues. That was reduced to two percent by today’s announcement.

The Regents approved a motion to accommodate the additional two percent withholding by reducing its fund balance reserve by one percent amounting to $450,000, and by cutting its equipment and operations budgets by one percent, which also amounts to $450,000.

The University’s Budget Review Committee had recommended, in order to accommodate a five percent withholding, a plan that could have imposed an incidental fee surcharge of as much as $8 a credit hour for spring semester classes.